1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to data processing system based meeting scheduling systems, and in particular to a method and system for providing an intuitive display of scheduling information for a plurality of users within a single viewport. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to the determination of selection regions within a single viewport, the temporary display of scheduling information associated with a selection region selected by a user while the user is continuously selecting the selection region.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known in the art to permit users of data processing system calendaring systems to schedule meetings for specified attendees during specified time periods. Users of these systems may specify equipment and resources, along with desired attendees for the meeting. One example of such a system is U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,314 issued to Baber et al.
In this system, an available time for a meeting may be determined once a user has specified attendees and resources for the meeting. In addition, the status of the attendees and resources may be graphically displayed to the user in a viewport utilizing graphically distinct objects associated with each attendee or resource. These objects are adjacently displayed along a time line. The display is not intuitive. It is time consuming for a user to correlate the graphically distinct object with its associated attendee or resource.
In accordance with Baber, a user may view a list of attendees or resources at a particular time within the time line by selecting the particular time. In response to this selection, a second viewport is permanently displayed including a list of each attendee or resource which is scheduled at that time, along with the beginning and ending time for the scheduled event, and whether the attendees' or resources' presence is mandatory. The user must "close" this viewport when the information is no longer needed.
This system and other known systems display conflict schedule information. In order to view the details for an entire day or group of days, such as event name, duration, and meeting time, for a particular attendee, the user would need to access the attendee's individual calendar. This manner of viewing details for attendees or resources can be very time consuming and tedious if more than a few attendees are included.
Therefore, it should be apparent that a need exists for a method and system which provides for an intuitive display of scheduling information for a plurality of users within a single viewport.